Les créatures (The Creatures) (1966)

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French New Wave filmmaker Agnes Varda writes and directs the intellectual drama Les Creatures. Michel Piccoli plays a novelist who gets in a severe car accident. He is injured and his wife (Catherine Deneuve) is rendered mute. They move to a small village on an island in order to recuperate, and for… More French New Wave filmmaker Agnes Varda writes and directs the intellectual drama Les Creatures. Michel Piccoli plays a novelist who gets in a severe car accident. He is injured and his wife (Catherine Deneuve) is rendered mute. They move to a small village on an island in order to recuperate, and for the husband to write his novel. He uses characters based on the townsfolk on the island. He meets a young man (Jacques Charrier) who is building a machine. They play chess and engage in a violent fight. The wife gives birth and regains her speech, and it is apparent that the young man only existed in the husband's imagination. The conclusion involves a futher distortion of fantasy and reality as the writer finishes his novel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 31 min.
Directed By: Agnès Varda
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Sep 3, 1966 Wide

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Walter M

In "The Creatures," Edgar Piccoli(Michel Piccoli) and his young wife Mylene(Catherine Deneuve, never more radiant) have moved to a remote island to recuperate from their injuries after a horrific car accident. While he bears a scar on his forehead that occasionally catches… More
In "The Creatures," Edgar Piccoli(Michel Piccoli) and his young wife Mylene(Catherine Deneuve, never more radiant) have moved to a remote island to recuperate from their injuries after a horrific car accident. While he bears a scar on his forehead that occasionally catches the attention of the villagers and suffers the odd headache, she has still not recovered her ability to speak and hides in their home away from any strangers. In the meantime, Edgar writes when not being accosted by Max(Pierre Danny) and Pierre(Louis Falavigna), linen merchants, and having to dispose of a dead cat. The mind-bending "The Creatures" is very unlike most of Agnes Varda's other films which usually have their feet firmly grounded in everyday details. While there is some of that here with the villagers, the movie is a surreal exploration of the writer's relationship to reality, especially considering that Edgar's idea for his book is reflected in what is going on in the world. So, is any of it really happening? By the way, he also talks to the animals. Plus, where else are you going to see somebody literally swing a dead cat? The climax is a lengthy sequence set around a high stakes game with the two players in the foreground while the action plays out in the background on a giant screen. With its chessboard symbolism, "The Creatures" is actually a step ahead of "The Prisoner."(And that's not to mention the cover of JLA #178 from 1980.) And I'll bet you thought "Inception" was trippy...